Guerrero Takes Part of Unilever’s Lease at Plaza

CHICAGO-Unilever has agreed to sublease about 22,125 square feet at Michigan Plaza, 205 N. Michigan Ave., to publishing company Guerrero Howe LLC. The new tenant is relocating from 28 E. Jackson into the 1.9-million-square-foot office complex.

David Kimball with MB Real Estate tells GlobeSt.com that Unilever is relocating its group at the building, which has about 85,000 square feet, to its headquarters in New Jersey. “The group was originally part of Helene Curtis, which Unilever bought about eight years ago,” Kimball says. Kimball, an assistant VP, joined SVP Jay Beadle in representing Guerrero Howe, while Steven Holmberg and Ned Franke with Cushman & Wakefield represented Unilever.

Subleasing has remained flat during the second quarter, according to a report by MBRE. Kirkland and Ellis pulled its space off the market at the Aon Center, while DLA Piper subleased some of its offered space at 203 N. LaSalle. However, a new block of availability opened up at 350 W. Mart Center by AT&T.

Kimball says about 3.5 million square feet of sublease space is available, but is going down and will dramatically decrease as subleases burn off. “The better question to the market’s heath is related to absorption. There are 130 million square feet of office space in the downtown market and nearly 21 million square feet is available for lease. Last quarter, 250,000 square feet was absorbed, which is a “net gain” for the market and positive news. However, we are anticipating negative absorption for next quarter when more space will come on the market than is leased as employers continue to “right size” or lease less space when the leases roll,” Kimball says.

BURR RIDGE, IL-Jeff Cherner, SVP and managing director of NorthMarq Capital’s Chicago Regional office and assistant VP Rup Patel, arranged first mortgage bridge financing of $26.9 million for Burr Ridge Medical Center, a 105,000-square-foot medical office building at 6800 N. Frontage Rd. The major tenant at the site is Loyola University Health System (LUHS), now known as Trinity Health. Financing was arranged for the borrower by NorthMarq through its relationship with Bank of America. The deal with Trinity closed about thirty days after the loan was funded. Loyola operates two hospitals with 820 beds. The developers were able to convert a lease for two-thirds of the building into a long-term lease for the entire building. The owners are positioning the building for sale in 2012. The borrower is an affiliate of Chicago-based Sterling Bay Cos.

CHICAGO-New York City-based Centerline Capital Group, a provider of real estate financial and asset management services for affordable and conventional multifamily housing, and a subsidiary of Centerline Holding Co., announced recently that Adam Klingher and Joseph Markech have been hired to expand the company’s business in the Midwest.  Adam and Joe join Centerline as SVP and VP, respectively. The two will be based here.

NAPERVILLE, IL-Marcus & Millichap Real Estate Investment Services recently arranged the sale of Davis Automotive, a 7,200-square-foot single tenant net leased property. The asset commanded a sales price of $1.6 million. Michael Marks and Evan Halkias represented the seller and buyer in the transaction. The transaction included two separate parcels, which accounted for just under 1 acre of land.

CHICAGO-Essex Realty Group Inc. arranged the sale of Columbia Gardens, a condominium conversion project in the Rogers Park neighborhood. The property at 1615-25 W. Columbia is a 38-unit vintage courtyard building that has been fully renovated. Several of the condominiums had previously sold. Essex sold the remaining 31 units in bulk. The sale consisted of 14 one-bedroom, six two-bedroom and 11 three-bedroom units. Jim Darrow and Jordan Gottlieb of Essex were the brokers on the transaction. The price was approximately $2.2 million.

SHELBY TOWNSHIP, MI-Centro Properties Group US has announced a 9,405-square-foot lease has been executed with Ulta at Hall Road Crossing, at the corner of Highway M59 (Hall Road) and Schoenherr Road. Michael Lippitt with Landmark Commercial represented Ulta.  Centro, the owner, was represented by Brian Mychajluk.

FRANKLIN, IN-Michael Weishaar and Luke J. Wessel with Cassidy Turley have been awarded the listing assignment of the Best Buy distribution facility here. The team is exclusively marketing the 703,496-square-foot office/distribution facility for sale or lease. The property, at 2001 Commerce Pkwy. (formerly Musicland Drive), will be vacated as Best Buy shifts distribution to other locations throughout the country. The facility opened in 1995 and was operated by Musicland, and was later purchased by Best Buy. The facility is on 67 acres.

ST. PAUL, MN-Oak Grove Capital recently originated an $11.4 million FHA loan for the acquisition of Montcalm Apartments, an apartment complex managed by DH Gustafson Co. in the Highland Park neighborhood. The property is a six-story, 108-unit apartment complex with a roof-top clubhouse, two-level heated garage, pool and exercise room.

 MINNEAPOLIS –The locally based NorthMarq’s Retail Brokerage group recently represented land owners in transactions for Goodwill Industries, which plans to lease or build new freestanding retail stores on the sites. In Lakeville, MN, the team of Jen Helm and Ronn Thomas represented Stonehenge USA for build-to-suit lease with Goodwill in a retail area at the intersection of Kendrick Avenue and Kenwood Trail, just off of Interstate 35W. Stonehenge will build a prototype 20,600-square-foot retail store for Goodwill. Goodwill was represented by Laura Moore with Adam Commercial Real Estate. In Champlin, MN, Tricia Pitchford represented local land owner CMK Champlin Holdings LLC in the sale of 2.5 acres to Goodwill. George Bestrom represented Goodwill in the sale. 

WICHITA, KS-Hendricks & Partners recently arranged the sale of Huntington Park at 1313 North Maize Rd. The 188-unit apartment community was sold for $10.7 million. Located in western Wichita, the property was built in 1998 and features 112 one-bedroom and 76 two-bedroom units. The seller was Huntington Park Apartments LLC. The buyer was Huntington Park Holding LLC. The transaction was negotiated by Aaron Hargrove on behalf of the buyer.

SALINA, KS-The Boulder Group has completed the sale of a ground leased Logan’s Roadhouse property at 3050 Riffel Dr. for $1.4 million. The 6,533-square-foot building was developed in 2008. The property is ground leased on an absolute net basis to Logan’s Roadhouse for a 20-year-lease term. Logan’s is a private company that operates 211 restaurants in 23 states. Randy Blankstein and Jimmy Goodman represented the buyer in the transaction. The seller was a Kansas-based developer and the buyer was a Chicago based high net worth investor.

MILWAUKEE-Brennan Investment Group LLC announced its acquisition, and simultaneous leaseback to Integrated Filing Solutions, of 95,500 square feet at 11225 Heather Ave.  Designed and constructed in 1999 for the company's use, the institutional quality facility encompasses 9 acres, providing land for future expansion. The new tenant is a manufacturer of custom folders, labels, and indexes serving an international customer base. The company has been developing document management solutions since 1917 when they operated under the name Safety Envelope Manufacturing Co. In 2008, SEMCO merged with Positive Marketing Associates and Midwest Index to create Integrated Filing Solutions. Sam Dickman Jr. with the Dickman Co. represented Integrated Filing in the transaction.

ST. LOUIS-The $10 million St. Louis Community College William J. Harrison Northside Education Center here has received Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) Gold certification from the US Green Building Council. Kwame Building Group was the construction manager and owner’s representative on the center, which opened for classes in August 2010. The 31,000-square-foot education center in the JeffVanderLou neighborhood of north St. Louis City features an art studio, science and computer labs, five classrooms, multi-purpose community room, bookstore, commons area, outreach center and administrative offices. Green elements included an energy efficient heating and cooling systems with heat pumps in offices and classrooms for individual comfort; controllable lighting; recycled materials; low VOC paint and non-toxic building materials and furnishings. The college serves more than 100,000 students annually, has a staff of more than 7,000 and a 2010 operating budget of $164.5 million.